Achieve your Goals Now!

Most of us set personal goals to strive for, which can be summed up in four points: be healthier, be smarter, travel and save more. But almost all of the time, we fail in making these personal goals possible and we go back to our old ways. So how do you meet your goals and make a change in your life?

Here are 10 tips on how you could make your life goals a reality.

1. Set SMARTER goals.

Most of us are familiar with setting SMART goals, but did you know that evaluating your progress is as important as setting them? Setting SMARTER goals help us analyze and make small changes in our strategies to achieving goals we’ve set. This enables us to be more creative in our approaches and also teaches us a thing or two about how we behave and resolves the challenges we meet along the way.

2. Follow the 21 day rule.

It takes 21 days of consistently repeating a task for it to become a habit. Forbes contributor Jason Selk shares valuable tips to help you get through the 21 day challenge by getting through the three phases of habit formation: the honeymoon phase, the fight thru, and second nature phase. Once you recognize these stages, it’s easier to come up with strategies to combat thoughts of giving up and achieving goals.

3. Limit social media consumption.

In the age of sharing, there are times when you can’t help but compare your life with those of your friends’. It helps to keep in mind that you are the captain of your ship, and your journey is yours alone. Limit your browsing to a few minutes a day to help you focus on achieving goals you’ve set. Apps like Digital Detoxcan help you by limiting access to your phone for a certain period of time.

4. Play video games.

Contrary to popular belief, playing video games is actually good for you. In an article by Men’s Fitness.com, it is said that video games increases visual attention and suppressed distracting information. Have fun and improve focus at the same time and be smarter this year. Go get yourself a new game to play.

5. Do simple exercises during the day.

Exercising can be uncomfortable, but it helps you push yourself to your limits. Exercising releases endorphins which help enhance your mood, impulse control and also increases your memory. Add exercising to your top priorities and make achieving goals happen.

6. Spend time with people smarter than you.

Get mentors that will help achieving goals possible. Connect with like-minded individuals and engage with them so you could improve your craft. Learn from others and also share with them the lessons you’ve learned, because everyone always knows something you don’t.

7. Always bring a notepad with you.

Ideas are flighty beings, so make sure to capture them while they’re there. Go old school and bring a notebook and pen with you anywhere you go. There are dozens of apps to take down notes like Evernote and OneNote, but writing it down makes you remember it better.

8. Take power naps.

In an interview with Live Science, Professor Matthew Walker of the University of California, Berkeley talks about the benefits of sleep and its role in absorbing new information. His research states that our learning ability degrades as the day goes, and naps give our brains the much needed boost to help us cope with new learnings.

9. Hydrate.

Dehydration can impair short term memory functions and long term memory recall. Keeping hydrated increases focus and alertness. Water also helps reduce anxiety and frees the mind to focus on the task at hand. Dozens of apps are now available to remind you to drink water throughout the day, so download one now.

10. Create a done list.

Using a done list instead of a to-do list makes you more productive. The difference is that done lists give you the motivation to get things done. It shows you real results and also gives you a realistic view of what you’ve done. It helps you execute and evaluate the tasks at hand and also shows you what you are capable of doing.

Now here’s the best tip you can take to make sure to meet your goals: don’t share it with others. Derek Sivers gives us a good reason why you need to keep your goals a secret. Check out this three-minute video to see what he means.

Achieving goals and knowing where you want to be is a vital part of your journey to success. Let’s all make this a year of doing and reaching for our life goals.

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Published by Herlene Somook

Herlene Somook is a creative entrepreneur and freelance writer based in Manila, Philippines. A graduate of AB Psychology, she was a Kumon Reading teacher for five years before jumping ship to the Business Process Outsourcing Industry, where she gained experience in Inbound Sales, Technical Support, Outbound Services, Lead Generation and Marketing. Today, she spends her time as the Head Writer and Content Strategist for NextStep Hub. She loves reading bedtime stories to her toddler son.

NextStep Hub is curating a wide variety of resources, tips, tools for entrepreneurs, start up and managers to help you succeed in Asia, China and across the globe. We want to help you take advantage of all the latest local and regional digital tools to help you amplify your message and brand in the region.